A recent study published in the Environmental Health Perspective journal [April 2016] suggests that persistent organic pollutant (POP) exposure — including pesticides, heavy metals, solvents, plasticizers, and industrial chemicals — may be the most significant factor for developing diabetes. Historically, diet and obesity were believed to be the top factors implicated in triggering diabetes, but this new research indicates that obese people who are low in POPs don’t have an increased risk of diabetes, as compared to the rest of the population. Instead, it appears that obesity combined with elevated POP levels are the most significant risk factors for developing diabetes.
Integrative physicians would suggest that eliminating stored toxins through a detoxification protocol is key to preventing diabetes and other chronic illnesses. Joseph Pizzorno, ND, is passionate about the topic of environmental medicine and the role of detoxification treatments for counteracting damage caused by excessive exposure to chemicals ubiquitous in modern society. “Toxicity has become the primary driver of disease in the industrial world,” he says. “Thousands of studies now exist showing we have high levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury, and that they cause disease. And we see a much higher correlation of illness when we look at total body load of toxins.”
Dr. Pizzorno is considered an expert on the topic and is currently in process of writing, along with environmental medicine expert Dr. Walter Crinnion, the first-ever textbook for environmental medicine and detoxification, a likely future staple in naturopathic medical schools. Detoxification is accepted and utilized in the naturopathic community, but there have been very few standardized guidelines for definitive protocols. “There are a variety of detoxification programs being promoted to the general public, but not all of them are effective and some are even dangerous,” Dr. Pizzorno says. “Through endless hours of reading research and clinical experience with thousands of patients and employees in corporate wellness programs, I have identified nutrients, supplements, herbs, foods, and various other therapies that offer real clinical results. Sometimes the simple protocols, like water fasting, have the most powerful outcomes.”
Dr. Pizzorno is the founding president of Bastyr University, one of the leading naturopathic medical schools in the US. During his 22-year tenure, Bastyr became the first fully accredited, multidisciplinary university focused on integrative medicine, and the first alternative medicine research center funded with NIH grants. These major milestones accomplished during Dr. Pizzorno’s reign served to put the small, specialized field of naturopathic medicine on the map.
In 2000, Dr. Pizzorno was appointed to two prestigious federal policy groups — the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy and the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee — arguably the highest federal government positions occupied by a naturopathic doctor.
Dr. Pizzorno is editor-in-chief of Integrative Medicine: A Clinicians Journal, a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Restorative Medicine, and is the author or co-author of 10 books, including the internationally-acclaimed Textbook of Natural Medicine, and the best-selling Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, which has been translated into six languages.
He founded his company SaluGenecists, Inc., which develops decision support tools and services for knowledge delivery systems, combining evidence-based expert understanding of integrative health with advanced technological platforms.
Dr. Pizzorno will be offering a seven-hour detoxification workshop for physicians as part of the 14th Annual International Restorative Medicine Conference, being held Sept. 15-18, at the Sonesta Resort on Hilton Head Island, S.C. There he will share the extensive research documenting the stunning amount of chronic disease due to environmental toxins, and clinical experience that highlights the most effective nutrients, botanicals, and other integrative therapies that help metabolize and detoxify environmental toxins. In addition, he will show how common, basic lab tests can be used to measure and monitor treatment efficacy. Finally, he will present for the first time the research showing that the entire diabetes epidemic is due to environmental toxins and proven methods for restoring normal blood sugar regulation.